


Oh brother, where art thou, you dumbass

by reddeadmort



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Arguing, Comedy, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Jealousy, Light Angst, Sibling Rivalry, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-13
Updated: 2019-04-13
Packaged: 2020-01-12 04:20:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18438905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reddeadmort/pseuds/reddeadmort
Summary: Another Tumblr request.Arthur and John have a big sibling rivalry and you and Abigail (as their significant others) decide to use it to make them useful.





	Oh brother, where art thou, you dumbass

You and Abigail were happily chatting, sat across from each other at one of the tables, when the sound of bickering voices alerted you to your two boys arriving back at camp.

“Shut up Arthur!” John’s annoyed snap made you and Abigail look up from your cups of coffee. You looked over to Arthur and John, then back at each other, rolling your eyes. _What now….._

“Yeh, next time you should let the wolves eat the rest of your brain, it’ll make you a genius!”

“Will you shut up!” John yelled back as he stormed off towards his tent. Arthur was chuckling, looking very pleased with himself, as he walked over to you and Abigail. He was still chuckling when he sat down next to you, but quickly stopped when he finally looked up at your disapproving stare.

“What?!” he asked. You rolled your eyes, shaking your head.

“Do you really have to wind John up so much?” you sighed.

“It’s fun, and easy too.” He grinned; he really was pleased with his latest quip at John’s expense.

“You know he only ends up taking it out on Abigail!” You spoke to him like a naughty kid, gesturing across the table to Abigail. It felt odd speaking to him in such a tone of voice, but him and John really did act like petulant children sometimes.

“Was only a joke” he grumbled, fiddling with his thumb. You couldn’t stay mad at him, not when he was so cute.

“I know, sweetheart, I know. But maybe it would be nice if sometimes you and John could talk to each other _without_ taking the piss?”  

“S’pose.” Arthur grunted in response. You leaned over to him, lifting his chin up for a quick kiss.

“Come on sweetheart, why don't we go sit in our tent and you can tell me how the job went.”

Arthur smiled at you and stood up. As you walked over to the tent you gave Abigail a little wave goodbye; she returned it, before standing up and heading to find John. She had some ego repair to do.  

\----

Unsurprisingly, Arthur didn’t really listen to you, and John ignored Abigail’s pleas too. Every time one of them brought something back, the next day the other came in with something bigger, better. Dutch wasn’t helping matters; if John messed something up, he got a lecture, if Arthur made a mistake it was ignored, and Arthur made sure John noticed.

A couple of weeks later, you were organising items in the medical wagon when you spotted Arthur heading purposefully towards you, a cheeky grin on his face. As soon as he was close enough, he grabbed you, kissing you passionately; it was unexpected, but not unpleasant. You giggled as Arthur wrapped his arms around you, leaning you over, like the drawings in one of Mary-Beth’s romance books.

You were thoroughly enjoying yourself, until you realised that Arthur wasn’t making eye contact with you; instead, he was looking up, across the camp. You pulled away slightly, only to see John embracing Abigail in the same manner; he was also paying no attention to his significant other, instead watching you and Arthur. _Son of a bitch…._

You pushed Arthur away, slapping him on the chest.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing! Don’t you go dragging us into your little rivalry!” You looked over towards a slightly bemused Abigail, John standing there with a massive smile on his face.

“Marston, stop your grinning, this does not mean you won!” you yelled at him, stomping off towards your tent, leaving a slightly guilty looking Arthur scratching the back of his neck. You were over-exaggerating your anger for effect; you weren’t that mad, how could you be after that kiss. But you were already plotting your revenge and were sure Abigail would be more than happy to help you.

\----

It hadn’t taken long for you and Abigail to form a plan; if these two lovable idiots were going to try and one-up each other, they sure as hell were going to help you while they did it. That morning, you waited until John left his and Abigail’s tent before sneaking over to talk to her.

“Hey Abigail! Did it work?”

“Morning Y/N! Yes, like a charm – I’d barely told him that Arthur was going to help you hang it up before he was insisting on doing the washing. I didn’t even get the opportunity to really rub it in!” You and Abigail grinned at each other – this was going to be way too easy. You headed back to Arthur’s and your shared tent; Arthur was sat on the cot, sketching in his journal. You sat down next to him and sighed heavily.

“You alright darlin’?” Arthur asked, placing his arm gently around your shoulders.

“Oh, nothing Arthur. I’m just bored, and I’ve just got a load of washing to hang up, once John is finished with it that is.”

“John? John’s….doing the washing?” Arthur was incredulous. “Since when did Marston start helpin’ out with the chores?”

“Oh yeh, it’s so sweet, Abigail said she was tired and he just offered to do it for her. Such a gentleman.” You gave a little wistful sigh, slyly studying Arthur’s face to see his reaction.

“Hrmph.” Arthur looked up and away, chewing on the end of his pencil. _Damn, Arthur would be a harder task than John._

“Anyway, sorry for moaning sweetheart, I’ll leave you be to stay here and finish your drawing.” You gave him a little kiss on the cheek before moving to stand up. Arthur didn’t let you; he gently grabbed your wrist and pulled you back down.

“No, darlin’, you stay here ‘n relax. I’ll go make sure Marston is doin’ it properly and hang it up for ya. Fool is probably making them even more dirty, don’t want you havin’ to re-wash anythin’.”

“Thank you Arthur, you are the sweetest.” Arthur leaned over and gave you a little kiss before standing up and walking off. You lay down on the bunk, feeling very pleased with yourself; as Abigail walked past, she glanced over and you gave her a little two finger wave and a grin.

 

\----

The next couple of days continued in much the same manner; you and Abigail had never had it so easy. You’d even managed to get the boys to do some of the other girl’s tasks by saying they were yours. You’d had to let Miss Grimshaw know what you were up to pretty quickly, but as long as stuff was getting done, she didn’t care. On the other hand, you could tell Dutch was starting to get a bit aggravated; Arthur was ignoring Strauss’s requests to chase up some debt collectors, and John wasn’t exactly focused on finding new leads. Between you, you and Abigail decided to see if you could get the boys to do one last challenge, then have a talk with them.

You weren’t too sure if you’d be able to pull this off; it was easy to get the boys to do things for you as their significant others, but getting them to help each other’s partners might be more difficult. Abigail had it easier with Arthur; he already liked to help out with Jack, and had felt a sense of responsibility for them ever since John took off for that year. But you weren’t even sure if John liked you all that much.

Arthur was your first victim. You watched as Abigail waved him over to her tent, and told him how John was supposed to be helping her write a letter, but he’d gone off into town instead. For a moment, you didn’t know if Arthur was going to take the bait; you’d overhead him say to Strauss just now that he was going to head on out and use his special skills of persuasion on a few debts. But he did, sitting next to Abigail on the bed, grabbing a piece of paper.

You actually felt a bit bad; maybe this was too far, manipulating Arthur’s instinct to protect? Unfortunately, this thought distracted you, and you didn’t notice John walking towards the tent until it was too late.

“What do you think you’re doing in my tent Morgan?” John said loudly, accusatorily, across the camp clearing.

“Here he comes, John Marston, the self-appointed hero.” Arthur stood up as he mocked John, walking towards him. "I'm just lookin' after Abigail, seems you need help doin' it."

“You stick to helpin’ your own woman, Arthur!” John's cheeks were flushed, his fists clenching at his sides.

“What’s wrong John, you worried Abigail is goin’ to finally realise she can do better than you?” 

“Did you think that up all by yourself?” John sneered at Arthur. Arthur didn’t take kindly to this remark, stepping forwards so him and John were almost touching.

“Unlike you, Marston, I didn’t need to get half-eaten to be able to string a long sentence together.”

“You think you’re so tough don’t you. You don’t scare me Morgan.” John was obviously feeling especially brave today.

By this point, you had joined Abigail by her tent and you were both staring across at the boys, incredulous. This was obviously far more than just a simple need to one-up the other.

“As entertaining as it would be to see who will win between these two, we should probably do something before they kill each other” you whispered to Abigail.

“Probably” Abigail chuckled. This didn't phase her nearly as much as it did you; she'd seen the boys go toe to toe frequently before. “Here, take this – how good at throwing are you?”

Across the camp clearing, Arthur had grabbed John by the front of the shirt.

“You sure ‘bout that?” Arthur snarled in his face. John opened his mouth to reply just as a bread roll smacked him in the side of the head. Arthur let go of him, turning slightly towards the direction the offending article came from, as a second roll hit him square in the chest, bouncing off and catching a dazed John in the face.  

Arthur and John looked over to see Abigail bent over double laughing; you were also giggling, but had your hands covering your mouth, your ‘oops’ expression belaying the fact that the second roll may well have been yours.

“What’s so funny” they grumbled, almost in unison.

“Nothin’ boys” Abigail gasped, barely able to get the words out she was laughing so hard. “You two just carry on now.” As she finished her sentence, you and Abigail made eye contact; after a pause, you both started laughing again, hard, you had the proper giggles now.

Arthur and John looked at each other, at you two, and back to each other again. Arthur scratched his chin and John ran his fingers through his hair, both as equally bemused as each other, their anger dissipated. Eventually, you and Abigail pulled yourselves together, straightened up and gestured for the boys to come over.

John turned to Arthur, looking at him quizzically; Arthur shrugged and started to walk over, John following just behind.

“Come here you fools” you pulled Arthur in for a hug as Abigail did the same for John. Pulling away, you patted Arthur on the arm reassuringly.

“Did neither of you think it was a bit odd that the other one had suddenly started bein’ so helpful?” you asked the men. They looked at each other, then back at you; you could see a glimmer of realisation beginning on Arthur’s face, but John still looked utterly confused.

“Abigail and me were getting proper fed up of your two’s constant competition. So we thought we’d at least make you useful.”

Arthur sighed, covering his face in his hand; you’d played him like a fiddle. John was staring at Abigail questioningly, looking for clarification.

“John Marston, you’re a fool. A sweet fool sometimes, but still a fool.” Abigail smiled as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Now boys, there is a serious side to this. This was just a bit of fun, making you help out with chores here and there. But what happens if you act like this when you’re out on jobs or such? Being so stupid, annoying each other, taking more risks just because the other one did so. It’ll get both of you killed.”

There was a moment of silence as the boys contemplated what you'd just said. 

“You’re right Y/N, as usual.” Arthur rumbled. “Marston, I’m….errrr…. sorry. You do a lot round here, and I’m glad to have ya by my side.”

“Me too Morgan. I guess sometimes I just…well I expect you to give me grief, so I end up giving it first.”

You smiled as you gently rubbed Arthur’s lower back. You suspected this truce wouldn’t last long, not in the camp anyway, but as long as they didn’t do anything stupid outside the camp, they’d be okay.


End file.
